Groenkloof Day Hike

We went hiking at Groenkloof Nature Reserve in Pretoria on 23 January 2011. The nice thing about this reserve is that it in the heart of a city and has an a nice selection of wildlife and various activities available to do.

The day started a bit gloomy with rain tapping on our bedroom windows but we held our heads high and the rain passed. I was extremely happy with the turn out as we had an almost a full troop at our hike including two parents all dressed in bright red what a team!

We decided to let the scouts take the lead on the Yellow route while the adults hanged back as the whole point of the hike was to allow the scouts to complete their Pathfinder hiking requirement. They were also requested to make turns to take notes so that may compile a log of the hike. About a kilometer into the hike we reached the T-junction where the circular route meets up and the scouts decided to go left which resulted in us completing the route in reverse, no harm done as scouts is always up for an adventure.

The scouts were extremely observant and spotted the first animals, giraffes, and continued to spot ostriches, wildebeest, zebra’s and various buck. They were so observant the even noticed a variety of insects, spiders, birds, and plants. One fruit that stood out was the Monkey Orange and with the help of a Trees of South Africa book the scouts to found out that the skin of the Monkey Orange is edible once ripe but the insides is poisonous.

As we continued on the route we found that the path split in two so we sent two scouts in each direction to find a board. The boys that went right quickly found a board so we sent a scout to call back the other two, but they were nowhere to be found. After a quick jog we found them further up the path. There is a lesson to be learnt here, is give the teams a specific time limit to find the route and if they do not, they should return.

The scouters decided to lead the party from there on and we moved at a good pace and quickly reached the halfway mark as we quietly passed a whole herd of buck. Not long after we found the perfect lunch spot at a large bunch of trees all nestled between large rocks and boulders. After lunch the scouts took the lead again and we were doing really well on time. On the last 2Km it began to rain again but with thunder present this time, so we decided to jog to get out harm’s way. Luckily the storm passed quickly and reached the end of our route. It was a great day out and I hope the scouts plan to go back soon.

Baden-Powell Sunday was held at Cliffview Primary School for the Randburg District. A fun gala and water games kept the Cubs and Scouts very busy.

1st Honeydew hosted the District Campfire for Randburg on 9 September 2011.

From left to right: Cameron, Gregor, Keegan Nel, Mark, Brandon, Luke, Keegan Hague. Front: Westliegh ﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿
We went hiking at Groenkloof Nature Reserve (http://naturefriends.org.za/groenkloof/index.htm) in Pretoria on 23 January 2011. The nice thing about this reserve is that it in the heart of a city and has an a nice selection of wildlife and various activities available to do. The day started a bit gloomy with rain tapping on our bedroom windows but we held our heads high and the rain passed. I was extremely happy with the turn out as we had an almost a full troop at our hike including two parents all dressed in bright red what a team! We decided to let the scouts take the lead on the Yellow route while the adults hanged back as the whole point of the hike was to allow the scouts to complete their Pathfinder hiking requirement. They were also requested to make turns to take notes so that may compile a log of the hike. About a kilometer into the hike we reached the T-junction where the circular route meets up and the scouts decided to go left which resulted in us completing the route in reverse, no harm done as scouts is always up for an adventure. The scouts were extremely observant and spotted the first animals, giraffes, and continued to spot ostriches, wildebeest, zebra’s and various buck. They were so observant the even noticed a variety of insects, spiders, birds, and plants. One fruit that stood out was the Monkey Orange and with the help of a Trees of South Africa book the scouts to found out that the skin of the Monkey Orange is edible once ripe but the insides is poisonous. As we continued on the route we found that the path split in two so we sent two scouts in each direction to find a board. The boys that went right quickly found a board so we sent a scout to call back the other two, but they were nowhere to be found. After a quick jog we found them further up the path. There is a lesson to be learnt here, is give the teams a specific time limit to find the route and if they do not, they should return. The scouters decided to lead the party from there on and we moved at a good pace and quickly reached the halfway mark as we quietly passed a whole herd of buck. Not long after we found the perfect lunch spot at a large bunch of trees all nestled between large rocks and boulders. After lunch the scouts took the lead again and we were doing really well on time. On the last 2Km it began to rain again but with thunder present this time, so we decided to jog to get out harm’s way. Luckily the storm passed quickly and reached the end of our route. It was a great day out and I hope the scouts plan to go back soon.

The 1st Randburg Scout Group represented Randburg in the Gauteng Kontiki challenge this weekend (4 to 6 March 2011) at Murray Park, Springs.
Kontiki is an annual raft-building competition for Scouts and Girl Guides, which has been run in Gauteng for 27 years. The aim of the competition is to build a raft from scratch on the Friday and launch on Saturday. The Scouts remain on the raft overnight, cooking a meal and completing other activities on the dam.1st Randburg finished 18th in the Raft completion and 22nd overall (out of 46 teams). A Girl Guides team from America and a Scouting team from the Western Cape (who finished 3rd overall) also participated in the Gauteng challenge.
The teams showed great spirit and innovation in building their rafts. Decoration and design are important as well as the necessary function and safety. The theme was the Roman Empire and thus rafts that looked like chariots and galleys were the norm for the day.
Cubs may be too young to stay on the rafts but many participated in the supporters (or land-based) teams and others completed various “Beaver” challenges in order to earn their special Kon Tiki badge. 1st Randburg also has a young group called Meerkats, aimed at 5 to 7 year olds and even these smallest members got involved in the action.
Scouting has a long tradition and is an organisation that is still going strong after 104 years. Girls and boys of all races and ages are now part of the organisation, part of a 28 million strong worldwide membership in 160 countries. It is no surprise that Richard Dean Anderson (better known as MacGuyver) was a Boy Scout but many famous sportspeople, leaders and entrepreneurs were also part of the Girl Guide or Scouts organisation in their youth (such as Bill Gates, Mohammed Ali, Celine Dion, Steven Spielberg, etc.).
The 1st Randburg Scouts group started in 1946 as 1st Ferndale Scouts, in Riverside District. They later joined with 1st Brinkpark to form 1st Randburg and are the oldest group in the Randburg District.
Other teams from the area who competed and excelled was Robin Hills (winners of the 2011 Kon Tiki Challenge) and 2nd Randburg Rangers (who came 2nd overall). Greenside from Emmerentia finished 4th, Blairgowrie finished 12th and Craighall finished 24th. The Randburg area was thus well-represented at Kon-Tiki and are looking forward to next year’s challenge.